Roll end nearest to me, if it’s the other way it tends to rattle & we can’t be having that.

When I was younger I didn’t think about it or care, which now has me wondering if my mom cares at all. I know sometimes she definitely has it with the end coming from the bottom, because now I always do it over top (like hotels) so I notice when she replaces a role when she stays with me.

No right or wrong way, just the way one grew up with and is accustomed to. Like you, @downtide, I like the loose end at the front.

Oh, it matters! There is only one right way – over the top/rolls out/closest to you. Anyone who does it the other way just isn’t present enough to realize what they are doing, or they spent their childhood chewing on lead paint.

I agree with @tom_g.

End out, as you said.

End in, and you have people touching places other people may have to touch before washing their hands.

I’m with you, it needs to unroll over the top, end out. If DH puts it the other way, I don’t change it, but it bugs me!

End out for sure!

I don’t care as long as there’s toilet paper!

I like it loose and in my hand.

The toilet paper roll that is.

I say be grateful that he replaces the roll at all. My husband just leaves the empty one on there.

There is only way: over the top, end out. Otherwise, the tissue might touch the wall or cabinet and we can’t have that!

This was a constant question on Dear Abby or Ann Landers for 30 years. It was never settled to anyone’s satisfaction and it won’t be settled here either.

This is one of those gender-division issues, in my opinion.

Women care about this crap.

Men don’t. As long as the toilet paper is within an arm’s reach in any direction, it simply doesn’t matter if the roll is clockwise, counter clockwise, or wafting down from heaven.

Over the top, end out!
When I was taking speech in college a student used this subject for a speech, was funny. She brought props and all. The professor marked her down one grade to a maximum of a B due to the topic being too easy and less serious.

Really don’t care. Either.

Early toilet paper didn’t have neatly-perforated sheets; it was manufactured in a long, unbroken roll. Each dispenser had a metal flap for tearing-off a segment: http://www.rensup.com/Toilet-Paper-Holder/17506.htm

So, the roll had to be inserted over the top, end facing out. Otherwise, the cutting device wouldn’t work. Because that was the only way to insert toilet paper, it became the “correct” way. Today, many years after metal flaps disappeared from toilet paper dispensers, most people still hold to that rule.

Personally, I like the roll to unwind backward and from the bottom. Paul has the same preference. There’s toilet paper harmony within our marriage and household!

Vertical

Loose end at the back/bottom. It’s the only way I can snap off a piece with one hand, which is my preference – I hate having to manhandle the roll. If the loose end is at the front/top, it just spins and spins when I pull it. Useless.

@glacial good point and it also brings @Seek_Kolinahr s’ contention that the up and over way means less hand contact on the unused paper into question.

@rojo Hopefully we can start a revolution!

When we had cats, it mattered. Ever see what a cat can do with a roll that come from the top?

Office Cat is sitting on my desk as I type this and she says that she is innocent of any crimes against toilet paper. But she is a cat.

She also says I have no proof and she is right. All proof got flushed

Rolled out toward you. According to Ann Landers many moons ago, this is how it should be done, and also, you’ll notice that this is how it’s done in hotels. This way, your hands don’t touch the walls (after years of that, the wall will have a mark).

As many above have said, it’s pretty simple. There’s no need to scrape your hand against a wall when there is a correct way to do this. There is no reason to be having a debate about this. Imagine if you were in the office and asked someone to hand you a document, and they decided to hold it one inch from the wall. You’d probably stab them in the throat with the sharpest object you could find. Well, your toilet paper holder is handing you paper. Why would you allow it to hide it next to the wall?

@jca I don’t get that. Regardless of how it’s loaded, there should be no need to touch the wall. That’s weird.

@glacial my thought exactly. Why are you hitting the wall folks? Can’t you just grab the sheet that is hanging down without touching things? Do all of you have those chubby little fingers?

Maybe it’s not hanging at all. Maybe the end is trapped by static cling to the back of the roll. Now, I have to start spinning. Much easier if the roll is facing the right direction.

@Seek_Kolinahr But you always have to spin the roll at least a little… unless you’re a single-square kinda gal.

I think all the front-loaders should try it the other way for one week, if only to see that there’s nothing to fear.

@rojo: “Why are you hitting the wall folks?”

I’m not. Because things in my house are done correctly.

I did have a coworker who would install the roll incorrectly. He was an awful person, just like anyone who would put toilet paper on the roll incorrectly. Awful, immoral, people.

I have another question along these lines and wonder if there is anyone out there who can answer it. We had a couple of guy students from China living in one of our apartments and had to go in there to fix a small leak. I noticed that they did not have any toilet paper on the roll or under the sink. There was a damp washcloth hung up on the toilet paper holder, I assume to dry, but that was it. My thought was that it was odd but maybe they were just making do after running out. I mentioned it to my partner and a couple of months later when he went over there to unclog the tub drain he noticed that was still the way it was.

Is this a cultural thing? Is TP a fairly new innovation in China? We did find out that they were from a rural area in China would that account for it?

Or is it only that I live in a very protected First World environment and the majority of the world uses this “alternate” method? .

@glacial: If you have a new, big fat roll of paper and it’s rolling toward the wall, you may touch the wall when grabbing paper.

This is the first time I’ve felt the need to draw diagrams to accompany my Fluther posts. :P

@jca, no you don’t, it self-feeds out of the bottom.

@rojo: It rolls next to the wall.

Reminds me of that old Euclidean argument:

“TASTES GREAT!”———————————-“LESS FILLING!”

I don’t think that one was ever settled either.

@jca It rolls next to the wall either way! Hahaha.

@glacial: hahahaha!!!

Isn’t this a nice distraction from world problems? Or maybe it’s an escape from reality. Next, we could consider crocheted doilys.

@Sunny2 I try never to consider crocheted doilies. :/

@glacial I tried once but most people want to start from the inside out on the doilies and I think it should go from the outside in so I gave up.

Or the tissue box holder that is made out of that plastic webbing with yarn stuff.

@jca Ahhhh – have you ever encountered those who insist that the plastic needs to be removed from the box as soon as it’s opened? That plastic is working for you, people!

That plastic makes the puff puffier!

At last we agree! ;)

This is how I roll.

I don’t keep it on a roller. It’s in a basket next to the toilet so people can run it any way they want.

@rojo….that about the Chinese tenants is very odd and….gross.

Thank you @tom_g for agreeing with me!